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Fright Night comes early to Wall Street

It’s not even Halloween yet, but Wall Street already has the heebie jeebies. Hedge funds are going into screaming hysterical panic over the Rajaratnam / Galleon insider trading arrest. Why? The feds used wiretaps to build their cases and the hedgies are wondering if they were tapped and what they said if they were recorded.

Forbes reports an unnamed hedge fund is hiring outside experts in the wake of the Rajaratnam arrest to insure its own employees aren’t wearing wires. But lest you make the mistaken conclusion they are doing this for ethical reasons, think again. Because, really, then you’d be expecting pond scum to be honest, and they just aren’t capable of that.

The fund isn’t looking for legal or other guidance into how to ensure its employees comply with an ethical compliance policy. No, instead its concern is in making sure that any crooked dealings (or conversations that might be construed as such) aren’t captured on tape.

I’m guessing that honest hedge funds aren’t doing this (and there must be at least a couple of them, right?) Why? Because they don’t need to. It seems to be a truism of business that weasels attract weasels and honest firms attract honest people.

PS Forbes also says “How dirty is the hedge fund business? Filthy would be a fair assessment.” Really folks, it’s time to take out the garbage.